Monster's Theory

I won't even waste your time with a foreword. Just know three things:

1. There's no sex in this release (it's storyline driven).
2. It's long (grab a snack or earphones at least).
3. All characters are 18+ (unless stated otherwise).

That's all. Ladies and gentlemen: dig in, enjoy and feedback. In that order.

Act I

The boy's finger paused at the intercom, the as if to ask; 'are you sure? After all these years, are you positive you want to go there?"

A glance through the Great iron bars made it obvious. Aside from the cobblestone driveway, the estate was a goddamn amazon forest. They could house a leopard and no one would ever know.

With a grimace, he pushed the bell anyway. Regret hit instantly. His heart thundered against ribs as that sick to the stomach feeling took on literal form. Hands were shaking. Knees felt as if they didn't want to do this. He genuinely did not want to see..."

"Hamilton homestead, how may I help?"

"H-hey Charlie. It's me. Think you could open up for me?"

There was a short pause before the response came, sounding rather old and shaky. "Mr. Shannon. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but is that you?"

Liam bent a little to show his subtle smile to the intercom camera. "Would you believe me if I said I was just in the neighbourhood?"

A click immediately cut through the air before two iron gates slowly swung open. Liam straightened up and looked down the cobblestone drive. Evergreen trees lined up the edges, encasing the entire roadway in a thick dark shadow.

"Fuck me..."

"I didn't quite catch that sir. Did the gates not open?"

"Oh, Sorry. They did," he thanked. "See you in a sec."

Liam jumped back on the mountain bike and made a dash for the main compound. But from the moment he crossed that threshold, he could swear something was stalking him. Gosh It felt like a scene pulled straight out of Nat Geo. He could hear the narrator now:

'Once a decade, the homosapien will brave the trip through the Hamilton wilds in an attempt to seek refuge at the study grounds over on the other side.

However, this is a perilous journey riddled with many predators that have not been fed for hours. The sapien's only known defence is its speed and superior intellect. But will that be enough for this young specimen? After all, Homosapien's are pack animals, but this one doesn't even have its mother nearby.'

Liam shook his head clear and simply focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. His feet stopped cycling and let the bike coast through the curves. How the hell did he manage to land himself in these types of situations?

Oh right. This really all started just yesterday, didn't it? It's amazing how much a thirty-five minute biology session can drop your world on its head.

**********

19 hours ago

"Wait. Come again?" Liam looked up from his desk with that classic 'you've got to be kidding' kind of look.

"You heard Me Shannon. You're with Chelsie for this assignment."

A collective outcry immediately broke loose. Hell, that was an understatement. Those few words sparked full on outrage. Chairs scraped the tiles as various students got up to voice their opinion of this arrangement.

Textbooks slammed shut in protest as did pencil cases while a couple threatened to boycott the period altogether. Next thing you know, flaming Molotov were flying through the air while another student unleashed a chain gun and painted the walls red with everyone's blood. Then, the psycho pulled out a grenade and owned herself too. It was mass genocide.

Okay. So maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But Liam could swear, had the weapons been available, at least one person here was crazy enough to use them.

Shaking himself back to reality, he asked; "Why me though?"

The woman in the lab coat looked up from her clipboard. "I've noticed you're always on your own when it comes to these group projects," she stated, making sure her voice was heard over the disgruntled complaints. "Think of this as me changing things up a little."

'A little she says...' he thought to himself.

"Ma'am. There's nineteen of us here," came his reply. "Technically there's always gonna be an odd one out."

"Yes but it doesn't always have to be you Liam." she said while ticking god-knows-what off that list she was always carrying. "Turns out it's not just my subject either. Your other teachers also find your lack of interaction rather... worrisome." She threw the tool on her desk before walking over to the other side. "Congratulations on your first words of the week by the way."

'Gee, thanks...' Could she blame him? A single glance around the classroom would easily justify his reserved nature;

Like the way hostile glares currently fired down on his position. How each and every one of their eyes held the promise of a thousand hells to come. How dare he dabble outside his league. To even suggest a mere commoner such as himself be partnered with their fair maiden! Why... This was heresy!

"Pairing her up with a reject like him is a total waste in my opinion." Ah. There it was. Liam regarded Daniel just a few seats ahead. The jock stared back with that smug grin of his, an arm hanging over the backrest. "I mean let's be honest. He wouldn't know what to do with a girl if one came and sat square on his lap. Let alone the ice queen herself."

"I don't remember setting sexual contact as a prerequisite for completion of this assignment, Mr. North."

"Oh I beg to differ," came the counter. He turned back around to show their teacher the same expression. "The topic is the human reproductive system isn't it? A little practical simulation would only be... educational." Miss Colart just glared back at him warningly from over the top of her spectacles.

"Say... Are partner swaps allowed?" he added.

"Only by mutual consent." she answered while taking her seat. "But it has to be now, prior to leaving the class."

Liam could already tell where this was going and decided to cut it short. "Guess it's settled then," he concluded halfheartedly. His books found his backpack as the countdown till knock off began. "The jock will have Chelsie and I'll have Audr-..."

"Hold up!" Right on cue too. The whole class turned to face Audrey, already up on her feet. "So you're both saying my consent doesn't matter here? Is that it?" Daniel's soon to be ex-partner wore a mortified look at being dumped so eagerly. "Who says I wanna get stuck with that anyway!" she screeched, darting a menacing finger towards Liam.

Danny chuckled condescendingly. "Be honest with yourself, babe. This isn't about him. For a second there, you actually thought you'd struck gold by having a first team half-back to yourself for a whole month," he taunted, locking hands behind his head and rocking back on his chair. "And since that fantasy's been dashed, your sorry arse wants to salvage..."

The class watched a pencil case rocket through the air and nail the jock straight on the ear, knocking him off his chair. The class went wild. "Fucking get over yourself, you little shit! Your dick isn't nearly big enough to support that statement!" A colourful string of insults ensured.

"Hey! Hey!" Miss Colart admonished over the blaring laughter. The loud clap of palms against oak finally grabbed their attention. "Audrey, sit yourself down and mind that filthy tongue!"

"But the douche just called me...!"

"Do I look like I care?! Sit down! Daniel. Stop crying like a little girl and pick up that pencil box."

Liam sighed. "If this is about consent then how's about Daniel just has them both," he suggested. "Chances are I won't even need the help anywa-..."

"Not happening!" The lady snapped. "You're here to learn social skills too Shannon. Not sit in solitary for the entire duration of your senior year! Chelsie is yours. End of discussion."

He groaned to himself before falling back into his seat. A hand ran through his spiky dark hair as he contemplated all the bloody ways this could end.

"Is that an objection I hear there?"

"No ma'am," came his response. "But I can't exactly speak for the girl."

As if on cue, everyone's eyes trailed to the empty chair on the other end of the class. This was her fifth consecutive week absent from school. It was nothing new. From time to time, Chelsie would pull these vanishing acts. Now you see her, now you don't. And when you didn't, well...

At that moment, the siren blared loudly through the empty hallways.

'Fuck my life...'

**********

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

The angel on his shoulder brought him back to the present in that helium packed South Park voice. Liam rolled his eyes. Previously, the damn hallucination surfaced after a shot or two of tequila. Now? Every time it got the freaking chance.

"The only animals in these trees are Rovas and Bella," the boy replied, dodging a fallen branch on the road. "No one's gonna get hurt."

"Oh, I couldn't care less about any slobbering mutts. I'm talking about her," his conscience said while pointing in the general direction of the mansion. "The stuck up ice-queen you're so obsessed with!"

"I'm anything but obsessed. Colart threatened to fail me if Chelsie didn't play ball, remember? It's not like I actually wanna be here..." His feet pushed against the pedals again, trying to outrun his imagination. Yeah, that didn't work.

In fact, the unaffected fairy just flew in front of him and regarded him thoughtfully. "If that's how you really felt, you could've simply called you know. Maybe meet up at a place of mutual comfort?"

"I don't have her phone number saved."

"You know it by head!"

"She wouldn't have picked up."

"Objection! That argument has no basis!"

"Yes it-...! Goddamnit. I can't believe I'm trying to justify myself to a bloody delusion."

"I'm real and you know it." It came back to sit on his shoulder. "Just admit it. You miss her. You couldn't have been more ecstatic when that foxy bio tutour called out your names. Freaking masochist."

His butt raised off the seat as he shot out of the woods. Suddenly, there was light. No rustling leaves. No Singing birds. Just the sound of rubber against pebbles and the view of three stories worth of stone.

The sight was as intimidating as it had ever been. Eggshell white, born of Greek architecture, built in the early 1700s by a slave importer that owned nearly half the city at the time. Liam swallowed hard past a sandpaper throat. He brought his bike around the massive water fountain, past the row of dark Bentleys, then past the armed men in black guarding the scene. He recognised a few but most were fresh faces.

Charlie - the Hamilton's butler - was waiting for him by the wide outdoor stairways. A tall, rigid man, complete with a tailcoat and white gloves. He never wore anything else. The walking stick was new though.

The cyclist hit the brakes and skid to a halt, stopping dangerously close before him.

The butler simply smiled. He had that respectful formal posture with a hand behind his back. "You've certainly grown up young sir," he greeted. "Last I remember, you were still working with training wheels."

Liam smiled back, jumping off the bicycle and dropping the side stand. "I see your humour hasn't aged. Pity I can't say the same for everything else," he teased referring to the pearl white hair. Well... What was left of it anyway.

The two firmly shook hands like old friends prior to heading on up the outdoor stairs. Liam honestly wondered if he was still welcome here. The years away could mean immigrant laws now applied.

"I have to say. I expected you to be long retired by now," came the ice breaker. "The pay that good?"

"It's got nothing to do with money unfortunately." Gotta love British accents. "I have attempted hanging up my gloves many a time. However my employers keep hailing me back to duty."

That was interesting. The lad spun around and waited for the timer on the polished front porch. "Why you specifically? Family bond?"

"In part. It's mostly to do with the young mistress' condition though," Charlie said walking past. "Precaution requires that she has medical personnel nearby. I dare say my skills are a more than a little antiqued though. But she just won't tolerate anyone else at her side."

Liam's eyes widened. "Okay cut, rewind and play. What do you mean by 'condition'?"

Charles spared him a look over his shoulder. "She never informed you?"

"Informed me 'bout what?"

"About her illness of course. I assumed that's the reason you are here today. Or was that presumptuous of me?"

Liam focused his attention on the floor as they entered the brightly lit foyer. It was evident the maids cleaning this fortress were running overtime. Everything sparkled. From the enormous chandelier to the scotch floor tiles to the decorative ornaments on their Greek stands. It was all set up for perfection.

"Hate to break it to you, but Chelsie and I hardly talk anymore," he finally confessed, treading across the entrance hall and towards the curving twin staircase. Charlie arched an eyebrow.

"We just grew up, okay. It happens," he added, answering the unasked question. "You find better friends that suit your lifestyle while your old ones are left to do the same. That's what growing up does to people."

Sadness manifested in the butler's eyes as they started up the stairs. "That's a shame. There's something about childhood friends one just can't replace. And your bond was at the stage where you two barely needed words to communicate."

"A lifetime ago. In many respects, we're completely different people now."

"I don't entirely agree," Charlie objected.

"No?"

"No. People never completely change. One does not simply forget and move on while pieces of themselves remain with someone else."

"Is that experience talking?" The boy immediately regretted the inquiry when he saw the old man's eyes start to water.

"Decades worth."

Liam's mind flashed back to his own childhood days. A younger time where gifts were exchanged and innocent promises were made. That brilliant twilight of infancy before kids had to mature and leave those same promises behind.

"Young sir. I don't suppose that by any chance you brought a few imaginary friends along?" The question came out of the blue. Like a cold bucket of water jerking him from his slumber. Liam wasn't quite sure what to make of such a query.

He spared his conscience a glance. The damn thing just stared back with an expression just as confused as his own.

"W-w-why?" stammered the child. "I mean, that's a rather odd question to ask, don't you think?"

"Perhaps," came the nonchalant reply. "I'd just like to know if I should prepare for additional guests."

The boy shook his head. "I'd like to think I'm a little too old to be playing with figments of my imagination."

"I suppose you are," Charlie replied sounding a little out of breath. They had just gotten to the top floor when the man wobbled to a stool near a telephone stand. "Perhaps I'm still due to get past that mental timeline where relations were simpler. It's just that dinners can get rather lonesome when it's strictly the two of us. Frankly, I'm just glad there's a real person here to see her for a change."

Liam relieved the walking stick of its duties and helped the caretaker down. "But Chelsie's got lots of friends. You mean no-one's come around to see her?"

"Not a soul."

"But... Why?"

"You tell me. You learn with them after all." The timer pulled out a handkerchief and put it to use. "Or perhaps you could tell her." He motioned down the giant hallway, set alight by open skylights. "She acts unaffected, like she prefers it this way. But eventually, solitude always wins out."

"You're not coming?"

"No need. You're not a exactly guest in this house, young sir." A tag was pulled off his neck and handed to the visitor.

Liam received it with a nod and hesitantly left the butler to regain his strength. Footsteps echoed. So did the silence. It was a sharp contrast to the years gone past. How the laughter of two children could bring so much life to an otherwise dormant manor.

As he tread by, blue eyes lay witness to ghosts of their younger selves skating on the newly polished tiles while caretakers raced after them. He saw them in one door and out the other. Swinging on the drapes, knocking over antique vases from their million dollar stands before hiding behind flower pots. Their childish laughter rang through his ears. Their whispers, their high pitch screams. Their yells at one another as they scurried down the corridor.

The boy smiled longingly as the illusions disappeared through a door and never came back out. Where did the time go? When did he start to forget?

Liam brought his body to a halt behind that same door. His heart was in danger of cracking a rib or two. With much reluctance, a hand came up and with even more reluctance, knocked three times.

**********

A muffled sound came back through the wooden barrier.

"Meh. Close enough," his conscience chirped. "Shall we?"

The same trembling hand reached for the doorknob, twisted but did not push. It just held there. Unsteady. Unsure.

"Now you get cold feet? Now?" it admonished. "Where the hell was this indecision when I was trying to talk your arrogant arse out of this situation five minutes ago?!"

A shaky breath escaped his lungs. "Do... Do you remember the conditions under which Chelsie and I cut ties?" Liam asked, his tone dripping with apprehension.

"Not quite. Your psyche was still in the process of constructing me at the time."

The boy gave his conscious an incredulous look. "You're in my head though!"

"True but that doesn't grant me clearance to every dark corner of your memories," it shrugged. "You've got some pretty messed up things going on in there, I'll tell you that. Even by my standards."

With that, the fairy flung itself at the door, shouldering it open and dragging a very anxious Liam along with it.

It looked nothing like he remembered. 'Cold' was the first word that came to mind. Both literally and figuratively. White Adidas squeaked across bare stone tiles. They took him past a metallic food trolley carrying a neglected meal. Past an adjustable bed complete with an active diagnostics system. A high pitch tone echoed through the air. Discarded intravenous cables lay across the bedspread. But there was no patient in sight.

"Love what she's done with the place," his conscience remarked from his shoulder.

Liam spared it a glance before nervously making a double take on the fairly sizable room. Gone was the pink carpet and the Barbie wallpaper. No more was the canopy bed nor the kiddy play tent. The toys and books, crayons and puzzles. All gone.

Liam shrugged. "To be fair, it's been years. What were you expecting?"

"I dunno. Boy band posters, Walt Disney bedspread, and you're never too old for teddy bears, right?" it theorised before buzzing into the air and taking a look around. "A hospital theme though?"

The same white sneakers squeaked to a halt before the vanity. Its surface was littered with sealed syringes scalpels, unused bandages, a portable oxygen tank and a stitching kit. "Touché. NBC could shoot an entire fifteen minutes of House with this scenery alone." Curious fingers picked up a discarded asthma pump for inspection. "All they'd need now... Is a..."

"Ice queen at one o'clock."

His view snapped towards the balcony. Her silhouette visible through the flailing curtains. The pump found its way back to the surface before quivering fingers ran themselves off the edge. Moving on autopilot, one foot kept finding its way in front of the other. The squeaks faded with each passing step. His heart beat in his hands. His next breath held in his lungs. Almost a decade spent trying to avoid her and now here he was, pushing past the drapes fluttering between them.